Free Dining frustration <tiny vent>

[caracap]

Would you feel this way if you were able to get free dining? Not to sound rude, but just wondering?

 

[dbriggsq]

I'm not sure what you mean. We are never likely to get free dining as we always go on DVC points. I don't begrudge anyone getting free dining (after all they are paying full price for rooms and this is why Disney do it - to fill hotel rooms at quet periods), but I am quite happy to pay and yet cannot get any reservations. Seems mad to me!

 

[ExPirateShopGirl]

Let's have a recap:

Waitstaff at WDW will never ask if you're on free dining. They ask only IF you are on a dining plan of some sort. Why? To avoid the inevitable confrontation with diners who either paid for a dining package or were not eligible to purchase one for any number of reasons. Are you or aren't you? Yes or no. Not how much it cost you. Ever. End of story. I have been to WDW 4 times in 2 years, always taking advantage of adding the dining plan to our packages. Sometimes we paid, sometimes if was offered free. Regardless, it's a money saver for the way we dine at WDW.

WDW offers other discounts. Free dining is just one incentive. Disney also offers discounts on special rooms with amazing amenities if you commit to pre-purchasing your next 35 years' worth of trips there. It doesn't mean you're entitled to more, it just means you get a neat condo-style room without having to pay rack rates or purchase tickets to get it. You also get first crack at reserving them. I understand people want additional perks now, but the reality is you've paid for time-released perks... like a 12 hour contac pill. Those of us who pay for our vacations as they happen aren't entitled to the longterm benefits. C'est la vie.

No one likes having to make reservations 180 days out. Ok, some do, but those are a freakishly small percentage of our fellow DISsers. What is the difference between having to make them 180 days, 90 days or 30 days in advance? My guess is that 180 days is here to stay. If people learn they need to reserve before they know which park they will be visiting, they are more likely to add on Park Hopping to their tickets. (insert sound of cash register opening here)

One solution might be to hold a certain number of ADRs for those who walk up, first come first served... like the A line at a Southwest gate... get your A pass for later in the day. This would add a bit of flexibility to dining but not much as it would be your responsibility to line up first. I can already see the rants about that.

No easy solution... but no need to belittle others who are taking advantage of discounts offered by Disney. And believe me, they are only discounts. I paid more for my tickets and room, yet less for dining this year. Last year, I paid less for my room and tickets and full fare for dining. It's all in how you crunch the numbers. If something were truly free... there would be no numbers to crunch!

 

[Tine731]

Let's have a recap:

Waitstaff at WDW will never ask if you're on free dining. They ask only IF you are on a dining plan of some sort. Why? To avoid the inevitable confrontation with diners who either paid for a dining package or were not eligible to purchase one for any number of reasons. Are you or aren't you? Yes or no. Not how much it cost you. Ever. End of story. I have been to WDW 4 times in 2 years, always taking advantage of adding the dining plan to our packages. Sometimes we paid, sometimes if was offered free. Regardless, it's a money saver for the way we dine at WDW.

WDW offers other discounts. Free dining is just one incentive. Disney also offers discounts on special rooms with amazing amenities if you commit to pre-purchasing your next 35 years' worth of trips there. It doesn't mean you're entitled to more, it just means you get a neat condo-style room without having to pay rack rates or purchase tickets to get it. You also get first crack at reserving them. I understand people want additional perks now, but the reality is you've paid for time-released perks... like a 12 hour contac pill. Those of us who pay for our vacations as they happen aren't entitled to the longterm benefits. C'est la vie.

No one likes having to make reservations 180 days out. Ok, some do, but those are a freakishly small percentage of our fellow DISsers. What is the difference between having to make them 180 days, 90 days or 30 days in advance? My guess is that 180 days is here to stay. If people learn they need to reserve before they know which park they will be visiting, they are more likely to add on Park Hopping to their tickets. (insert sound of cash register opening here)

One solution might be to hold a certain number of ADRs for those who walk up, first come first served... like the A line at a Southwest gate... get your A pass for later in the day. This would add a bit of flexibility to dining but not much as it would be your responsibility to line up first. I can already see the rants about that.

No easy solution... but no need to belittle others who are taking advantage of discounts offered by Disney. And believe me, they are only discounts. I paid more for my tickets and room, yet less for dining this year. Last year, I paid less for my room and tickets and full fare for dining. It's all in how you crunch the numbers. If something were truly free... there would be no numbers to crunch!

Well Said! and include me in the freakishly small percentage who enjoys planning 180 days in advance.

 

[Skylarr29]

How do you know the people around you were free diners? Did you ask every single one of them. You know what they say about assuming.

 

[Snow_White]

The real question is how could a person savvy enough to read the DIS NOT know that they should make reservations at 180 days out? You don't have to make all of your reservations then, but you should know that if you want to eat at Coral Reef, Le Cellier, etc. you need to be making your ressies at 180 days. Free dining has nothing to do with it.

 

[dbriggsq]

Yes but if you can't book your trip until 2 months before due to work situations do you just have to accept that you won't be able to eat at any of the on-site restaurants. Not everyone has the luxury of being able to book 180 days ahead - do we just have to accept the short straw and be happy?

 

[ExPirateShopGirl]

You don't need a resort reservation to book dining on the possibility that you might go. If you think there's a possibility you might be able to go, call and make a few ADRs. If you can't go, cancel them. Simple.

Yes but if you can't book your trip until 2 months before due to work situations do you just have to accept that you won't be able to eat at any of the on-site restaurants. Not everyone has the luxury of being able to book 180 days ahead - do we just have to accept the short straw and be happy?

 

[kaytieeldr]

I don't begrudge anyone getting free dining (after all they are paying full price for rooms and this is why Disney do it - to fill hotel rooms at quet periods), but I am quite happy to pay and yet cannot get any reservations. Seems mad to me!

On the other hand, this situation shouldn't be consider a personal affront against DVC members, or any other group.... except the "group" of Guests who think they can simply walk up to a Disney restaurant, especially in a park, and be able to get a table.

Let's have a recap:

Dang! Don't you just hate when somebody throws common sense onto a perfectly good argument?

Yes but if you can't book your trip until 2 months before due to work situations do you just have to accept that you won't be able to eat at any of the on-site restaurants.

Not at all. Except at the busiest times, Guests willing to be flexible can pretty much always find somewhere to eat onsite. But the OP seems to have expected to make a same-day reservation at one of several restaurants. Now, they probably could have gotten seated if they'd planned further ahead; they very likely could have eaten somewhere more remote, such as a Moderate resort or SSR or OKW, or they could have asked Guest Services what was available that evening.
Same with you. You should be able to make reservations somewhere; maybe not exactly where you'd like, or maybe where you want but not at the 'perfect' time, but something.

 

[ajsmommy1129]

We heard them answer yes, when asked by the waitstaff if they were on the free dining plan

This will be my third time on the free dining plan, and I have never, and I mean never, had a CM ask me at a TS if we were on the "free" dining plan. They have asked if we were on the dining plan, yes, but never the "free" dining plan. Even during the "free" dining plan promo times, not everyone is on the free DDP. They may have booked too late or just not known to ask. And even making my ADRS 180 days in advance, I didn't get everything I wanted. Free DDP doesn't make me a bad person! I am sorry you didn't get your ADRS and feel that the DDP is a nuisance. Try going in July next year....

 

[Mickiethepooh]

You know one thing they SHOULD do to help with the last minute find a place thing? Bring back the Kiosks they had in the first place. originally they had Kiosks with cameras and live people, you walked up, hit a button and talked to dining reservations, they could tell you right then what places where you were might have something and give you a last minute ADR. Since they have all these problems that are REAL TIME they really should bring back this system. that way people who did not know about ADRs and are in the park would be able to find something without walking from one place place to the next and being turned away.

 

[mickeysgal]

You know one thing they SHOULD do to help with the last minute find a place thing? Bring back the Kiosks they had in the first place. originally they had Kiosks with cameras and live people, you walked up, hit a button and talked to dining reservations, they could tell you right then what places where you were might have something and give you a last minute ADR. Since they have all these problems that are REAL TIME they really should bring back this system. that way people who did not know about ADRs and are in the park would be able to find something without walking from one place place to the next and being turned away.

Whoa, what a blast from the past!! I thought I was the only one that remembered that Disney had these. I remember them only in Epcot.

 

[dvcnewgirl]

I am a DVC member too. I just NEVER go during free dining I schedule around it. I guess some people have to go but It won't be me.

 

[Stacy_C]

Whoa..whoa...whoa....I think some posters are getting carried away with thinking the "free diners" are ganging up against the DVC members. That is not the case at all as far as I am concerned. I can only speak for myself when I say this, but the sense of entitlement from the OP really rubbed me the wrong way...actually suggesting that free diners be given less desirable dining times or that free diners be denied table service meals all together.

And I will go on the record as saying that I don't believe for ONE SECOND that the OP heard a server ask someone if they were on the FREE dining plan. I think she was grasping for straws at that point to give her argument some credibility.

Also, I'll state again, the OP has misdirected her anger/resentment at the free diners. OP's trip doesn't even start until 9/30!! The free dining period for the general public ends on 9/22 (bouncebackers a tad later). Still, by the time the OP begins her trip there will very few (in comparison to previous weeks) free diners "stealing" her prime ADRs. So, in my opinion, her whole argument and point of this thread is moot.

 

[LilGMom]

You know one thing they SHOULD do to help with the last minute find a place thing? Bring back the Kiosks they had in the first place. originally they had Kiosks with cameras and live people, you walked up, hit a button and talked to dining reservations, they could tell you right then what places where you were might have something and give you a last minute ADR. Since they have all these problems that are REAL TIME they really should bring back this system. that way people who did not know about ADRs and are in the park would be able to find something without walking from one place place to the next and being turned away.

We take our cell phone with us and have called to check on availability before. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

 

[mb1976]

Well, I understand the frustration. We began booking 175 days out and could not get into some time slots we wanted. I just figured oh well, there are a lot of folks going. I don't fault free diners. Especially since I am one. After all, if not for free dining we could not afford to go. Not only that it also allowed us to bring my mom and pay her way. There is no way she could afford to go.

 

[Tine731]

If something were truly free... there would be no numbers to crunch!

ExPirateShopGirl said it best.

"Free" dining is Disney's equivalent to "Free" drinks in Las Vegas!

 

[LilGMom]

Sorry if this gets OT.

- Tearing down parts of CR to build villas for DVC. Some love CR. I don't. But that took away real estate from the resort for people who just want a regular room.

The tearing down of the North Garden Wing may or may not be DVC. Right now nobody (but Disney) knows what that new building will be. There are rumors that it will be DVC, there are rumors that it will be family style suites (as per what is recorded in the county records). And while some love CR, that North Garden Wing was awful (imho). During our one and only stay there (never again!) while getting my shower one morning I thought someone had walked into my room I could hear them so clearly but it was just someone in the hall talking - the walls were paper thin.

- They're doing the same thing at AKL now.

They didn't "tear" down any of AKL. Yes they converted X number of rooms but they are adding a seperate building for DVC. And the building that they are building, from what I have seen of conceptual drawings, will have an exterior facade very much like AKL so it won't stick out like a sore paw.

- I feel like the Beach Club Villas were crammed in a fairly unlovely spot between BC and a little canal. It detracts from the appearance, IMO.

Won't comment because I have never really paid attention to it that much.

- I wish the DVC stands at the resorts, and on the cruise ships, would just go away. They are an eyesore, IMO.

I agree on this to an extent. I see nothing wrong with a desk set up in the lobby of the resort but I don't care to see that much advertising for DVC in the parks. Can't speak for the cruises because we haven't done that yet.

- The Wilderness Lodge Villas, while more attractive than other villa locations, IMO, still take away from the rest of WL. WL has now started pricing some rooms that view the villas pool as "courtyard" view rooms. Sorry, but that view just doesn't cut it, compared to viewing the real courtyard, the geyser, the feature pool, Bay Lake, etc.

To be honest - all of the times that we stayed at WL I never really noticed the VWL at all. I might be slightly unobservant but not totally and it never detracted from the feel of the WL. I had not heard about WL charging more for villa pool view rooms as "courtyard". We had a room at WL that faced the VWL pool and you couldn't even really see the pool so it would not have been an upgrade in my opinion. And if WL is charging more for that view isn't that WDW and not DVC doing that?

I guess I misspoke when I mentioned "perks." These aren't perks, but they are aspects of DVC that I really, really do not like. I can deal with them as they stand now, but I think WDW is risking alienating me and a lot of other loyal, but non-DVC guests, with the increasing encroachment of the DVC on beloved WDW resorts.

Would you prefer for DVC members to be shunned to 'inconventient to the park' properties or put in resorts that are so far off the beaten path that you can't even see the resorts? In all the years that we have gone to WDW I have never felt like I was being alienated, picked on, judged, or poo'd on by WDW because I wasn't DVC. I have always gotten wonderful service and clean parks (I guess the recent threads I've seen on unclean park bathrooms is also due to DVC? ) as a loyal non-DVC guest. I guess I don't see

 

[LilGMom]

Don't you get perks like $100 off the AP, possibility of getting the DDP without paying for tickets you don't need, and without having to pay in advance ? Don't you get discounts on room rates, free parking, dining discounts... Sounds pretty nice to me.

Yes, DVC members get money off of the AP which is equal to what FL residents can buy their AP for. But... FL residents get an even better deal if they buy the Annual Seasonal Pass (have it and love it). As far as DDP for DVC members, from my understanding of it that was offered for the first time this past year (someone correct me if I'm wrong) and I don't know if it isn't 100% clear if it will be offered in 2008. Discounts on room rates, free dining and dining discounts.... discounts on rooms is if a DVC member is paying cash for a room and using an AP rate, same for the parking and dining. AP holders get free parking, all resort guests get free parking and AP holders can get a 10% discount on lunches at participating restaurants or they can use the DDE. It seems that most DVC "perks" are pretty much what AP holders get.

I'm still lobbying for a free AP for FL residents.

 

[cymbaldiva]

You know one thing they SHOULD do to help with the last minute find a place thing? Bring back the Kiosks they had in the first place. originally they had Kiosks with cameras and live people, you walked up, hit a button and talked to dining reservations, they could tell you right then what places where you were might have something and give you a last minute ADR. Since they have all these problems that are REAL TIME they really should bring back this system. that way people who did not know about ADRs and are in the park would be able to find something without walking from one place place to the next and being turned away.

I remember those!!!

That was in Epcot - around '94ish I think? Whatever did happen to those anyway?